Hot on the heels of their recent partnership with DeNA, Nintendo has announced that their first IP that will be brought into the mobile space is WiiFit! They have been talking about bringing a quality of life product to market for years now without anything to show for it. This announcement brings it all together for Nintendo!
WiiFit was a huge success on the Wii because it was among the first programs of its kind. That market has grown much more crowded as the years have passed as several companies have developed wearable devices that track fitness information. Nintendo is not planning on releasing their own device (they have enough hardware on the market as it is). Instead, the WiiFit app is being designed to collect data from multiple sources including WiiFit U, the app itself, and other mobile devices simultaneously. All of the collected data (caloric intake, distance walked, workout data from WiiFit U, etc) will be compiled and used to help create a daily fitness score.
The real trick to this, and the part that will require DeNA expertise, will be the social aspect. Players will be able to form groups within the app to challenge each other and keep each other motivated. DeNA has a lot of experience in multi-player social games so this feels like a slam dunk for them.
All is not perfect though. Nintendo has been tight lipped so far regarding a price for the app. Nintendo President Soturu Iwata is quoted as saying, “Please understand. We are still in the evaluation phase of product development when it comes to pricing. We do not want to devalue our IP with needlessly low prices. But, we recognize the market pressure for a lower price. We will provide more information as launch approaches.”
Launch is currently slated for Fall 2015.
What do you think? Are you in? Sound off in the comments!
